The Nigerian port where a little ‘dash’ goes a long way

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To the outsider Apapa port in Lagos is a mass of rundown buildings, packed quaysides and abandoned containers. That it works at all is testimony to Nigerians’ famed ability to thrive, and profit, amid chaos.

From lowly gatemen or security officials demanding a little bit of “dash” — Nigerian slang for a small backhander — to bureaucrats who can conjure up a vital “lost” form, the port has long been a cash cow in a country of high unemployment where most people struggle to survive.

A few months ago a British-registered ship detained on suspicion of dumping illegal electronic waste from Europe